Featuring materials from UMN Libraries’ Minnesota Underground Music Archive

In the 1980s and ‘90s, the Twin Cities music scene was loud, fast, funky, and demanded the world’s attention.

Prince released “Purple Rain” and its film adaptation, Hüsker Dü put out its acclaimed double album “Zen Arcade,” and The Replacements released its third album “Let It Be.” And that was just in 1984.

A new exhibit, “Music on Hennepin,” looks back at the Twin Cities music scene throughout the 1980s and ’90s, the musicians behind the Minneapolis Sound and the indie/alternative sphere, the local venues who gave them a stage, and the music that changed the landscape of rock, new wave, punk, and funk for decades after.

“My hope is that our work educates and looks historically at a topic, a band, but I also hope it’s inspirational, especially if you’re up and coming,” said Tim Carroll, the preservation society manager and archivist for Hennepin Arts.

“When people become inspired, it’s different than just fawning,” he said. “If one is truly inspired, it’s far more internal, and it’s like a combustion that you want to do something with it. Inspiration is almost a verb, as opposed to admiration.”

“Music on Hennepin” is currently on display in Hennepin Arts’ Best Buy Foundation Gallery and in Jack Link’s Legend Lounge at 900 Hennepin Ave. The exhibit was created by and featuring materials from Hennepin Arts, the University of Minnesota Libraries’ Performing Arts Archive, First Avenue, the Diverse Emerging Music Organization (DEMO), Hennepin County Library, the Minnesota Historical Society, and the Minneapolis Sound Museum.

The exhibit coincides with the pre-Broadway world premiere of the stage adaptation of “Purple Rain” at the State Theatre on Oct. 16, 2025. The musical is based on the original screenplay by Albert Magnoli and William Blinn and is directed by Tony Award nominee Lileana Blain-Cruz.

Kick Your Door Down

For nearly five years, Jay’s Longhorn was the omphalos for the local punk, hardcore, and alternative scene, hosting The Replacements, the Suicide Commandos, Hüsker Dü, and the Suburbs, as well as international acts like Talking Heads, Elvis Costello, and Blondie.

But even before the bar closed in early 1982, a new venue, the 7th St. Entry, opened in March 1980, eventually becoming the new home for Minneapolis’ makeshift, DIY, indie, punky, garage bands.

“It was a big, empty room. There wasn’t a bar. It looked like an old garage or something. The walls were all shitty, and they’d say, ‘Oh your band wants to play? Well play in the Entry,’” Carroll said. “You remember the 7th Street Entry bathroom? It was worse than CBGB. Sometimes I go in there now, and I’m like, ‘Oh aren’t we fancy?’”

Compared to the national charts, bands like the Magnolias, Loud Fast Rules (which became Soul Asylum), Cows, and Otto’s Chemical Lounge were completely different to the mainstream rock-and-roll sound and primed audiences for the ‘90s alternative boom, Carroll explained.

“They were scrappier, they were faster, they were influenced by Sex Pistols and the Ramones,” Carroll said. “When you listen to it, you realize there’s a real basic bluesy, almost Southern in a slight way, rock essence to a lot of that music. And I think when it’s heard by a younger generation, it’s still interesting, and they get inspired by it.”

At the same time, a wave of artists – Prince, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, The Time, Sheila E, Vanity 6, Jellybean Johnson, The Jets, and many more – were shaping a new genre of funk rock, the Minneapolis Sound.

“Music on Hennepin” showcases these bands primarily through the lens of Daniel Corrigan, who in 1981 became the house photographer for First Avenue and 7th Street Entry. The exhibit reproduces photographs from his book, “Heyday: 35 Years of Music in Minneapolis.”

The exhibit also features a First Avenue and 7th St. Entry “wall of stars,” created by Nathan Meyer, and the 2006 concert documentary film, “First Avenue Hayday: 1985-1992,” directed by Rick Fuller.

In addition to the materials currently on-display in the Best Buy Foundation Gallery, Hennepin Arts will have another collection of Prince artifacts – including photographers, records, drawings, and other ephemera – in the rotunda of LaSalle Plaza, using materials from Rich Benson, who holds one of the largest privately-owned collections dedicated to Prince.

Let Me Drive

While the community was heavily front-loaded with male bands, white guys weren’t the only people making music. Babes in Toyland, Têtes Noires, Smut, and Zuzu’s Petals were among the most popular bands of the era.

For “Music on Hennepin,” Deborah Ultan, curator of the University Libraries’ Performing Arts Archives, pulled materials from the Minnesota Underground Music Archive (MUMA) to examine two bands: The Clams, an all-female indie rock band, and Venus DeMars & All The Pretty Horses, a glam-punk band that’s been active since 1993.

The Clams were formed in the summer of 1985 by Cindy Lawson, Roxie Terry, Patsy Jansen, and Karen Cusack. They were a bluesy, proto-riot grrrl band – influenced by The Rolling Stones, New York Dolls, and David Bowie – who once played a gig at Stillwater Prison.

The band released two singles and one 12″ EP “Exile On Lake Street,” but after four years, the bandmates parted ways. If you missed The Clams’ sets at the Entry, a collection of their music, “The Complete Clams,” is available on Bandcamp, and you can still see Cindy Lawson playing around town (she’s performing with UltraBomb at Turf Club on Feb. 21).

All the Pretty Horses was founded in late 1993 by Venus DeMars and her original band mates: Edward Ford and Bill Bailey. DeMars was also inspired by David Bowie (from his Ziggy Stardust era), and started her first band, Straight Face, in the early ‘80s in her hometown of Duluth.

DeMars came out as transgender in 1988, making her one of the first openly trans artists in the industry. But with few opportunities in Minneapolis, DeMars found refuge in the drag punk scene in New York City.

Eventually All the Pretty Horses became a pioneering band in the Twin Cities, hosting themed nights at First Avenue, Turf Club, and Kitty Cat Shack, creating a safe environment for queer and trans listeners and musicians.

“Music on Hennepin” displays news clippings, video and audio recordings, buttons and stickers, but Ultan’s personal favorites are the bands’ posters and flyers.

“So much of the story of the time period, and the personality of the band, are in the flyers,” Ultan said. “And the imagery, some of it’s provocative, seductive … It just offers so much character.”

Throughout the decades, Hennepin Avenue has changed. The buildings have swapped hands, the marquees and signs changed. Places like Goofy’s Upper Deck — where Carroll and his husband went to shows — was demolished and replaced with Target Center. But the music changed their entire landscape and continues to influence bands to this day.

“This exhibit isolates a moment in time in Minneapolis,” Ultan said. “A segment of architecture, of activity, or performance.”

“When you look at this, especially if you’re a young woman and you’re interested in music, either performing music or going to shows, I hope this is inspiring,” Carroll added.